Corrected from the May 31 print edition: The commercial building permit that is the focus of an investigation by Clallam County Human Resources Department lawyer Akin Blitz into the county Department of Community Development was issued in December, not applied for then.
PORT ANGELES — An investigation into alleged improprieties at the Clallam County Department of Community Development that focuses on the actions of elected agency Director Sheila Roark Miller will not be completed by today, as planned, but by June 14.
Portland, Ore., attorney Akin Blitz, representing the county Department of Human Resources, said Thursday that one more interview must be conducted, June 6, in an investigation that began with a Feb. 21 overtime-related whistleblower complaint filed by a DCD employee whose identity is protected by whistleblower laws.
The investigation later blossomed into whether Roark Miller ordered the backdating of a commercial building permit document so the applicant would not have to abide by the county’s new Dungeness water rule.
The state Department of Ecology put the new rule into effect Jan. 2. It covers the Dungeness River watershed from Bagley Creek to Sequim Bay.
Blitz originally had expected to finish the investigation by today, but he said Thursday that the June 6 interview “is an important interview.”
He declined to disclose the interviewee’s identity.
Public information
Blitz said it is “a safe bet” that a report on the investigation will be completed by June 14 but that if and when it becomes public depends on what it concludes.
“One possibility is that Sheila Roark Miller is exonerated of all the charges in the investigation,” Blitz said, adding that in that case, it likely would become public after “some brief consultation” with the state Auditor’s Office.
“The option at the other end of the continuum is that if the report could be construed as providing a basis for some state regulatory action or some state enforcement action,” Blitz said.
“Then the time when the report becomes public would be determined by the agency that had jurisdiction” in the case, he said.
Blitz said he did not know if backdating a permit could result in either a civil or criminal charge.
The allegations involved, “essentially, corruption or self-dealing,” County Administrator Jim Jones said in an earlier interview.
Denies wrongdoing
Roark Miller, the only DCD director in the United States who is elected rather than appointed, has denied any wrongdoing.
She said Thursday that the building permit was issued during the last week of December, before the water rule went into effect.
She would not identify the permit.
Roark Miller, who has been advised by the county Prosecuting Attorney’s Office to hire a lawyer, said Thursday that she expects the investigation will conclude “that we are doing a fantastic job down here and that there’s at least one unhappy employee.”
The investigation was prompted by a complaint that Roark Miller had required a DCD employee to inspect her own job site over the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend and not record the overtime — and that Roark Miller not be charged a required weekend-inspection fee.
The investigation is being monitored by the state Attorney General’s Office and the state Auditor’s Office, Blitz has said.
State Auditor’s Office spokesman Matt Miller said his agency had expected Blitz’s report last week.
“It’s just kind of, we’ll get it when we get it,” Miller said Thursday.
“We can’t do anything until we hear what’s going on from the county’s end.
“We are aware of the issue, and we are actively monitoring it.”
$306 an hour
Attorney General’s Office spokeswoman Janelle Guthrie said late Thursday afternoon that she was unable to reach an agency official for comment on the investigation.
Blitz hired Kenneth Bauman, a former FBI agent and former assistant U.S. attorney, to conduct the investigation at a discounted rate of $306 an hour, or $2,448 for an eight-hour day.
Bauman began his inquiry March 1, two months ago.
“What is relevant is, how much does he bill, and is he going to bill for every one of those hours?” Blitz said.
“These things, like everything else in the justice system, sometimes take time and sometimes take more time than anyone had hoped.
“At least we are being assured of getting it right.”
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5060, or at paul.gottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
